Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Orioles @ Yankees 7/31/12

Yankees lose their 4th straight 11-5


The trading deadline and all that hysteria is finally over, although we have the waiver period through August 31st which always gets interesting, and the Yankees look reloaded and ready to go. Tonight they will try and stop a three game losing streak and put some more distance between them and the second place Orioles, who they play tonight. On the mound for the Yankees will be Ivan Nova and will be facing off against Chris Tillman. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on the YES Network and on MLB Network.

Lineups

Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Russell Martin C
Ramiro Pena SS


Go Yankees!!

The Trade Deadline Comes & Goes

And a few notable deals got done and some of them could impact the Yankees.

The Rangers acquire Ryan Dempster for Christian Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks. Personally this does not scare me because I do not think Dempster's stuff translates well into the American League but hey what do I know.

The Reds acquired Kansas City closer Jonathan Broxton for Donnie Joseph and JC Sulbaran. Who? Yeah I know right...

The Marlins fire sale was over stated but they did trade Gaby Sanchez and Kyle Kaminska to the Pirates for Gorkys Hernandez and a competitive balance pick.

The Cardinals also acquired Marlins set up man Edward Mujica for Zack Cox.

The Red Sox acquired Diamonbacks reliever Craig Breslow which I find odd. The Red Sox sent Matt Albers and Scott Podsednick in the deal. I get that they needed a left handed reliever but Albers has been pretty solid for them.

The Giants may have got the best player at the deadline this year when they traded for 2013 arbitration eligible Hunter Pence. The Giants gave up Nate Schierholtz, Seth Rosin, and Tommy Joseph.

The Dodgers acquired Shane Victorino for Ethan Martin and Josh Linblom.


Victorino The Newest Dodger


With the Dodgers trading for Shane Victorino today, after adding Hanley Ramirez last week, I thought I'd add a bit to the Trade Reaction that was posted yesterday.

I had the Dodgers winning the NL West already. Although the pitching for the Dodgers and Giants is close, I  though LA had the better offense. Shane's line of .261/.324/.401 so far this season isn't going to give the Dodger lineup that big a boost, but it does improve their situation. After all, Victorino does have 24 stolen bases, so when he does get on base he's a pest. And seeing as how the Dodgers have gotten -0.9 WAR out of their left-fielders (I'm assuming Kemp stays in CF), it can only make them better.

However, it still doesn't mean anything to the Yankees, as I expect the National League Pennant winner to be one of Washington or St. Louis.

Joba Headed to New York

Joba Chamberlain was headed for Trenton, but had to make a u-turn and get to Yankee Stadium, as he's been activated.

credit: Andrew Marchand

Yankees Trade For Casey McGehee



Preliminary reports say the Yankees have shipped Chad Qualls to the Pirates for 3B Casey McGehee. The Pirates or even more surprisingly going to be adding cash in the deal to the Yankees.

From Bryan...

Casey is nothing to get excited about, as he currently has a triple-slash of .230/.297/.377 for the Pirates. If this were at least 2010 I'd be ecstatic, but at this point he'll be depth only.

But there is one thing to be excited about... the Yankees dealt Chad Qualls for McGehee. In Chad's 7.1 innings with the Yankees he's put up an ERA of 6.14 and a WHIP of 1.773. And with Joba returning soon anyway, chances are Qualls would have been released.

Trade Reactions - Wandy Rodriguez


Not too long ago, going from the Astros to the Pirates would be a sideways move.

Wandy Rodriguez to Pirates, Rudy Owens & Robbie Grossman & Colton Cain to Astros

It's great to see the Pirates as buyers, because not only does it show that the team is doing well after years of ineptitude, but it shows that their management believes in them too.

I'm not a big fan of Wandy Rodriguez, as his career WHIP of 1.339 is a tad high, but he's sure to make a nice addition to a rotation that already has James McDonald and AJ Burnett in it. For the record I didn't want to see the Yankees trade for him, as I don't see Wandy fairing as well in the American League. He would probably make a good #4 or #5 starter, but I wouldn't want him to start a pivotal game for my team at all.

Anyway... are the Pirates for real?

So far this season the Pirates own a team wOBA of .302, which is ranked 11th in the National League. Pittsburgh's pitching has a FIP of 3.89, which ranks 6th in the National League. Going by those stats alone I'd say that they are, at least in the National League Central, where the Reds have a team wOBA of .316 (8th) and FIP of  3.68 (13th), while the Cardinals have marks of .336 and 3.69.

This just doesn't look right. I mean... good catch, but... ouch.

Those numbers would make you think that if the Bucs have a chance to win the division, it's on the coat tails of their pitching. But looking at their team BABIP of .289, which is well below the league median of .295, I'd say that this team could start scoring more runs than we've seen so far in 2012. On that note, the Cardinals own the highest team BABIP in the NL at .321, while the Reds BABIP is at .295.

Oh, and the Pirates own the 2nd best wOBA in the NL over the last 30 days... .346.

What does this mean for the Yankees?

I believe the Pirates can take one of the two Wild Card spots in the National League. I see the Nationals taking the NL East, St. Louis coming back and taking the NL Central, and the Dodgers taking the NL West, while the two wild card spots will be taken by two of the Reds, Braves, and Pirates.

"Hey, what about us?" - Stop allowing so many runs against and maybe I'll include you.

The real question to me is not whether Pittsburgh can get to the NL Championship Series, but whether or not they can beat the Washington Nationals. I already showed through stats that the Pirates can hang with the Cardinals and Reds, but neither the Dodgers or Giants are that good either. And so far, in 5 meetings this season against the Nats, the Pirates have won 3 games.

By the way, if the Nats don't have Stephen Strasburg throughout the playoffs (which would be stupid on their part), then we could see them in the World Series.

Which leads back to my belief that Wandy isn't "all that", and would not be that big a help against the Yankees. But while this trade, I don't think, has much of an affect on the Yankees, the Pirates could be around for a while.

Caption This & Win A FREE Yankees Keychain


THIS ENDS TODAY AT MIDNIGHT!!!


You all know how it works. Caption this photo by shooting us a comment on this post (totally free to sign up and you dont even have to give out ANY information unless you win), shoot us an email @ TheGreedyPinstripes.com, or tweet us on twitter @GreedyStripes. Winner wins THIS keychain absolutely free, shipping included. 

Add Mark Teixeira To The Injured List

UPDATE:

Mark Teixeira has some inflammation in his left wrist and will be out until at least Friday. He received a cortisone shot but there is no structural damage. Great news as we dodged a bullet. 



Mark Teixeira apparently injured his wrist while playing against the Red Sox on Sunday night and tried to play through the pain. On Monday, after making a diving play, was noticeably hurt and shaking that same wrist and left the game. X Rays were negative and he will be going for an MRI today. We dodged one bullet with the x rays maybe we can dodge another with the MRI today. Mark Teixeira going on the DL is the last thing that we need right now with half of his teammates already there, including clean up hitter Alex Rodriguez.

Meet A Prospect : Jose Mesa Jr


The New York Yankees used their 24th round pick on Jose Mesa Jr. Jose Mesa is only being mentioned here not because of his 6'4" 220 lb frame or because of his high school career at Flanagan High School but because his father is former major league closer Jose Mesa. Jose Mesa JR signed a deal that is expected to be above slot but the details have not been released. 

Jose Mesa has a fastball that tops out at 94 MPH with a curveball, slider, and a changeup. He relies on the fastball a little too much but that is to be expected out of a young pitcher. Mesa also plays 1B and 3B and has a power swing and power approach with a good glove in the field. 

Follow Jose on Twitter @JoeTable



Would You Give Cano 10 Yrs 200 Million?



All signs point to the Yankees having to really over pay to keep Robinson Cano a Yankee, especially if they do not wait until he is a free agent like they normally do. Scott Boras even went as far as to hint towards a 10 year $200 million contract to keep the slugger. My question to you is should the Yankees be willing to give him this contract in order to keep him?'

I personally have to say yes. Robinson Cano's do not come around very often, his defense is great, his bat is great and consistent, he has been very durable and has a great club house attitude. The ONLY problem is that Robinson Cano will be 30 years old this August so he would be 40 by the time the contract expires. My thing is though how can we give Alex Rodriguez a contract through his age 42 season and NOT give Cano his big pay day?